My fellow Nurses…

The nursing shortage is still all a-buzz these days due to the obvious state of our health care system and of course the tough ever-revolving need for nurses. I for one keep hearing about how the nursing shortage will double or triple over the next decade due to the increasing age of our present work-force, the increasing age and life longevity if the ill and elderly, and the imbalance of new nurses entering the workforce vs. nurses on the verge of retirement.
A new survey that was just released from 2008 shows that our nursing shortage and our workforce are ‘for the moment’ stabilizing.

Taking this poll with a grain of salt and keeping in mind this was 2 years ago — it is encouraging to know our profession is making a great attempt at meeting the demands of the approaching shortage.

Here are some of the highlights:

• The U.S. has more licensed registered nurses (RNs) than ever (an estimated 3,063,163 — a 5.3 percent increase since the last survey in 2004)
• One-third (33.7 percent) of RNs beginning their careers did so with a bachelor’s degree, up from 31 percent in 2004 and twice as many as in 1980.

• Although the number of RNs younger than 40 dropped steadily between 1980 and 2004, there was an increase in 2008 and they now comprise 29.5 percent of all RNs

Read the rest of the report here: 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses

What do ya think? Good? Bad? Neither?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.